Love and War
by lil-miss-twilight1
Summary: Its about A vampire named artimis how moves to forks with her superstar family.She is stalked by memories of her dark romance with the misteriously aluring mr.Cullen.She meets him one more time but he is just edward.Her life coes spiraling onwards
1. Preface

Preface

"It will be a pleasure to have you as part of the student body here."

"We are quite looking forward to it, we love new experience."

As we walked down the stairs - the principal leading the way - I caught a glimpse of Dominique. She looked like she was about to pounce on the first person she sees- if the soft rumbling of her stomach and the frequent swallowing of her saliva was any indication. Often, she'd fidget in annoyance. She had good reason, I had to admit; we haven't hunted for over four weeks. All I could do in the circumstances was to give her a reassuring nod to show we were hunting soon.

"And here is the gym where we do most of our sports classes," the principle scoffed, his sophisticated voice rising to speak over the noise coming from the gym. He turned around to see if I was listening. In return I smiled as sweetly as I could, trying not to flash my teeth. The principle smiled his awkward smile back- only the corner of his pursed lips curving up.

All of a sudden I felt Clide's hand about to lift towards my shoulders. I turned around to face him just before he could touch them.

"We need to go," he murmured, his voice so low no human ears would be able to hear it. He put his arm around Dominique as if to restrain her. Then, in a loud, clear and apologetic voice, he cleared his throat and said, "Sorry, sir, but we have a concert rehearsal in two hours up in California so we must be on our way. It's been an insightful tour around our future school."

"I understand completely," the principle droned, his voice tinged with a bit of excitement. I could tell that he was trying to stop himself from doing something. Perhaps he wanted our autographs. Or perhaps he was merely looking forward to our leaving so that he could have a coffee break. You never know. "Well, off you go then. I'll see you tomorrow," he said, his voice professional-sounding. He waved us off, sending a waft of air straight in the direction of Dominique. She hissed, but it was a hiss too low for any human to detect.

Immediately, Clide turn on his heels and nearly ran to the car. His response was automatic, and I could swear he was panicking slightly, probably terrified that Dominique would pierce her razor sharp teeth into one of them human's neck, sinking her teeth in and slurping up that delicious, cool blood to quench her thirst…

"Hey," Clide suddenly slid his arm into mine, restraining me. "Don't."

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

"I'm sorry, I lost control… I just feel so… Thirsty…" I gasped, calming down. Just for a second, I had longed for human blood... To feel that cool sensation flowing into your mouth and giving that satisfying sigh of satisfaction after finishing your drink was too tempting.

"Please," Clide begged and he steered me into the car. Dominique was already in it, her eyes shut as she tried to get a grip of herself. We had borrowed Maria's 4x4, and were speeding home. Though I'd rather much go by foot to save time, I knew it'd be better to do drive.

We arrived home and dropped the car off. There was Maria, her eyebrows raised, waiting to inspect it.

"So," she said, trailing her fingers along the car's door. "Do I need to take it to the mechanic?"

"Don't worry," I replied reassuringly. "I didn't crash it."

Maria heaved a sigh of relief and nodded. "How'd it go?"

"Well," I snorted. "Dominique nearly killed our new principle."

As I said this, a shot of worry hit Maria's face. Her perfect features became all contorted and her face darkened in worry. Clearly, she was worried for her daughter. I could see she was thinking of rethinking her idea.

"Maria, don't worry. Dominique's got lots of self control. She'd never dare do something like that. Especially with me on the prowl," I giggled, trying to get Maria to relax. But, unfortunately, it wasn't working the way I had planned. "I'm bringing her hunting."

Maria stared at me for a while, her expression unchanged. She stood emotionless before sighing.

"Oh, okay, then," she replied, her voice pitched so perfectly it sounded like a chorus of angels were singing. "Do what you need, and do what you will."

Without another word, she spun around and entered the house again, her voice tinged with worry as she told Lucas what had happened.


	2. Chapter 1:first Impresions

Chapter 1: First Impressions

So _this _was the beginning of our new 'life'. We – meaning Clide, Dominica and I - like to give very distinct tag to ourselves on the first day of school. This one, according to Dominica, ought to be powerful. I, however, personally think we should leave a down-to-earth impression. But there's no disagreeing with Dominica when she has her mind set on something, so I didn't bother trying to persuade her to follow – or even _listen – _to my idea. I knew her well enough to know how difficult it is to discourage her (that's why I was so grateful when she met Clide, seeing as how he can actually _sometimes _discourage her).

We decided (well, my _twin_ decided) that we would drive into school in my land rover because it was the most showy. Trust Dominica to want to show things off. But, like I mentioned, there was no persuading her once her mind was made up. Even if I were to try to persuade her, she wouldn't want to hear it. So Clide and I just kept our mouths shut and did as we were told.

We arrived at school a lot earlier than Dominica was hoping for, so we got out of the car and Clide perched himself on the hood whereas I climbed onto the roof.

"Sorry that we're too early. I didn't think it was _relevant," _I said the words cautiously to Dominica, slightly smug. Dominica scowled at me and got out of the car, slamming the door so hard that I thought the windows had shattered. I checked to see if they were, but they were still intact. Thankfully.

"You did this on purpose," Dominica growled through bared teeth. It was always funny when she tried to control her anger- she'd talk with an edge of sarcasm in her voice, mixed with fury. She'd speak slowly and word out each word. Amusing as it was, it made me want to bite her back.

It appeared that the loud sound of the door had distracted everyone from what they had been looking at. Everyone had turned to face us, and they were now staring at us. By the looks of it, it appeared like they'd be staring at us for a week.

_Or perhaps longer, _I mused, _seeing as we're 'celebrities'._

I, frankly, would rather call myself an artist. I don't enjoy being on the A-list as much as Dominica. To be an A-lister and to live the life of one wasn't my bag… It seemed more like Dominica's thing.

I mean, just because we've won a couple of Grammy awards, everyone thinks we're heaven-sent. Go figure.

We were supposed to be getting a guide to show us around the school. I could hear the principle ask around for volunteers. As he asked several people, I couldn't help but wonder how they were going to react upon meeting us. I wondered if they had even _heard _of us.

The bell resounded shrilly and the students dispersed into various directions, scuttling to class. There was one girl that seemed to be talking to someone, and only she remained still. I continued to watch her for a couple of seconds and when she moved I noticed a boy. As she continued chatting, she shifted slightly a couple of times. It was then did I notice that the boy had been remaining perfectly motionless the whole time.

It was very unusual for mortals to be this still, so I concentrated more on his face. He was beautiful- gorgeously perfect. He was like nothing I had ever seen before- whatnot with his faultless features carved into his perfectly pale face. It was amazing; _so _amazing that I could not look away. It seemed as though he had his own gravitational pull that was drawing me closer to him and intriguing me more every second. I couldn't control my sudden interest and attraction to him (heck, I didn't even _try). _His wild red-brown hair was windswept- as though he had run to school. He reminded me of someone I once knew. Someone I didn't wish to think about. Someone I had managed to rid from my mind, and to push into the very edge of my brain. I had been waiting for that memory of that someone to leave my brain completely, but it still hadn't.

I cocked my head to a side and stared even more, eyes narrowed. It was then did I realise why I had been unable to look away. There was something unnaturally sinister about him and it seemed to be pulled me in, towards him. He was beautiful, yes, but not natural. He was just too perfect... to perfect to be a normal human.

The whole time I had been watching him, I had been singing a song in my head so that Dominica wouldn't find out what I was thinking about. But at the last minute – as the result of my awe and curiosity – I lost control and allowed my thoughts to run freely.

_It's not natural._

"What's not natural?" Dominica questioned, glancing up at me from under Clide's arm. I had no idea she had been listening to my thoughts, and I scowled at her. I urged to ask her to stay out of my thoughts. But I didn't. I was too frazzled to do anything but come up with an excuse. I successfully blanked my mind of any thoughts and replied instantaneously.

"That girl," I fixed my gaze on the girl that was still chatting. "Over there. Her scent's unbearable."

This was true, I realised. Her scent _was _unbearable… It was tempting and made me drool slightly.

"Wow," Dominica said. "It's lucky we went hunting yesterday or there could have been -"

Dominica stopped mid sentence, distracted. Something had clearly captured her attention, and her face was immediately rearranged to form a glare. I followed her glare and realised what she was staring so intensely at.

The girl.

The girl was walking towards us, along with her – presumably, guessing by the way they were holding hands – 'boyfriend'. It was the same girl I had been looking at since the moment I had driven into school. He seemed to be walking at a snail's pace to me, Dominica and Clide.

Her scent drifted towards us, and my throat clenched. I had to do something before we went mad, so I walked up to her.

The smell was more intense and more painfully enticing. I held my breath. The boy seemed to get the message and started walking faster towards us, pulling the girl forward. She struggled to keep the same pace as him and tripped several times before they stopped.

He was now mere centimetres away from me. Mr Irresistible was too close to bear. It took a lot of my mental strength to look away from his perfect face to talk to the girl.

"Hi," I said, fixing my chirpiest smile onto my face. "I'm Kelli Williams. This is my sister Dominica and my brother Clide."

"Hey, I'm Bella. Bella Swan. I'll be showing you the classrooms today," the girl replied, pushing her hair back as though she were already afraid of me. "This is Edward, my fiancé," she gestured to the boy. "He's in almost all of my classes and therefore in almost all of _your _classes," she explained, looking up at him.

I could now allow myself to look at him. He caught her gaze and grinned at her, showing a row of pearl white glistening teeth. I was dazzled. He caught my gaze and smiled at me too, but this time his lips were together and the priceless gems behind his lips were hidden. His golden eyes were too powerful for me to handle, and instead I forced myself to look at the car behind him. Clearly, it was _his _car. A silver Volvo – the latest model, probably – stood behind him, sleek and shiny.

Edward stretched his hand out to shake mine, and I reached my hand out to shake his. He gave it a very slow, careful shake. As if he thought I'd fall apart if he did it any quicker.

I finally looked away from his face and realised that his hands were ice cold and that they matched my temperature perfectly. I let my hand fall in shock and he hastily let go. Sensing the awkwardness, I checked my nails. The resembled eagle talons (and the black nail polish did not help). I put my hands behind me when I was done scrutinising them.

_What lessons do we have now? _I wondered to myself, fumbling around my black tote bag for my timetable.

"We're off to English now," Edward suddenly said in reply to my thoughts. I stared at him, astonished. The fact that he seemingly could read minds indicated that my accusations of his not being human were right. Oh my God!

I muffled my thoughts for the rest of the day – fortunately, I had enough practise with Dominica – and repeated everything I heard several times. Dominica sent me a few mental messages but I couldn't answer her, for I knew if I did, my cover would be blown by Edward the Mind Reader.

Unfortunately, ignoring Dominica's mental messages had its consequences, as I found out after class. I was heading for lunch when Dominica ambushed me in the corridors, cornering me. Twin telepathy could really be inconvenient at times- particularly when one intends to _block their twin out of their mind._

"Why were you ignoring me?" she demanded.

"I wasn't ignoring you," I replied smoothly, looking around for him. "I just didn't answer you.

"I don't see the difference," she replied, looking puzzled and curious about my reply. She didn't prompt me immediately for a more detailed reply, so I considered explaining what had happened earlier on to her. Part of me longed to tell her, but another part of me was insisting I didn't. Besides, was she already aware of what was happening? I had no idea.

"Why do you look so freaked?" Dominica suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Apparently, she didn't know. I must have been muffling my head pretty well. I smiled secretly, proud at my job well done.

"You know that boy... Edward?" I asked as we made our way down stairs to the cafeteria.

"Of course I know him," Dominica replied, slightly irritable. "How could I miss him? Even if I didn't notice him, the way you had been gawping at him would catch my attention."

I frowned. "Was it that bad?"

If Dominica had noticed how awestruck I had been, there was no doubt that Edward probably did too (no wonder he had been looking so smug).

"Don't worry," Dominica reassured me, invading my thoughts once more. "Only _I _noticed it. After all, I _am _your sister," she replied, sounding rather full-of-herself. "Anyway, what were you saying about Edward?"

We were standing in the line, cueing up for food, just like everyone else was. Of course, there wasn't really a particular reason why were standing there in the line. It's not like we were going to eat any of whatever food they were going to serve us. I'd sooner throw up. How could humans _stand _the taste?

There was a herd of people waiting for their meal. Spaghetti was not exactly what comes to my mind when I hear the word 'meal'. But that's just _me. _And Dominica. And Clide. Probably.

I abandoned our conversation about the Mind Reader, hoping to delay it for as long as I could. Instead, I focused on the people behind us. God, they were hungry. I could hear the boy standing directly behind us tapping his foot impatiently. I could even hear his grumbling stomach!

"Would you like to go in front of us?" I asked him. The boy was about an average height, with short spiky honeycomb blonde hair. He seemed pleasant enough.

"Thanks," he replied, smiling uncontrollably as he made his way in front of us and grabbed a plate of slapped-on spaghetti.

"What's your problem?" Dominica demanded, outraged by my behavior. Ah ha! She had forgotten the conversation we were having about a la Mind Reader. "It _was _our turn next! What were you doing?"

"I was doing something magical called _being nice," _I worded the words out slowly, as though I was teaching a toddler the alphabet for the first time. "Maybe _you _should try it sometime."

Dominica snarled at my sarcasm.

"Hey, Sarcastic," she retorted. "It's your turn."

I ignored her and smiled smugly taking a plate of spaghetti. Dominica did so too and we wandered around the cafeteria, looking for a table.

I glanced at a random kid and winced when I saw what he was eating- spaghetti. How could mortals manage to swallow that? I'd never eat something as revolting as _that _unless I was dared to. Even if I did, I'd have to choke it down and quickly wash the taste away with lots of blood.

Dominica shuddered and said, "By the way, what were you saying? About Edward?" she looked at me expectantly, as though she was waiting for me to say something she already knew. When I didn't, she sighed and continued. "I don't think he's human."

I stared at her, unable to believe what I had heard her say.

"D-Did you just say that he was… _not _human?" I asked, crushing my eyebrows together. I do that a lot, especially when I'm nervous. Why? - I have no idea.

Dominica looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"No," she spat, sarcasm like acid. "I _didn't. _I said that he was a fluffy _mutt _that meowed like a feline!"

I stared at her even more, insides burning with scorn. I hated her sarcasm more than I detested human food, said coldly, "Fine, then. If he's not human, what is he?"

Dominica shrugged. "I don't know what he is- but I think that he's one of us. I'm actually quite certain. I mean, perfect features, mind reading skills, pale skin -"

"And cold, stiff hands," I added.

"Cold, stiff hands?" Dominica repeated. "I didn't know that. But that practically confirms it: I am about 99% sure he is one of us. But, just to be on the safe side, we _have _to be on guard at _all _times. Clear your mind of precious, secret thoughts. We don't know if he's good or bad, so best be safe."

"Maybe we could test them?" I asked brightly. "I mean, if they're you-know-what, we could discreetly test them. You know? Like, we could keep an eye on them: see if they eat this… barf, see if they come out in the sun or make cheesy excuses… Things like that."

Dominica nodded, twirling her hair. She bit into an apple and I watched her subtly choke it down.

"This apple is _horrible," _she said aloud, to me. "It's not sweet at all."

I grinned and fiddled with the revolting spaghetti in front of me, and popped it into my mouth. Disgusting. As quick as I could (translation, _so fast that no human would be able to detect any movement), _I spat it into a napkin and hid it in my hand.

As soon as I had it safely tucked away, Dominica's voice became a low whisper- so low that even _I _couldn't hear it as clearly as normal.

"Watch out," she muttered under her breath. "He's coming."

I glanced at the direction she was staring at, and saw Edward walking nonchalantly towards us, perfect features making my stomach lurch again.

"Do you think he read our minds just now?" Dominica asked, maintaining her volume.

"I don't know. I don't have powers like _that," _I replied.

"Nor do I," Dominica shot back.

Fortunately, as he came to stand behind us, I noticed Clide was waiting for us, grinning, with our lunch. I tapped Dominica, who spun around, grinned, got up and strutted towards him – after dumping her lunch tray and the uneaten food – ignoring Edward completely.

I did so too, and walked towards Dominica and Clide. Dominica grinned at me and whispered, "Saved by Clide."

She kissed him on his cheek, and hugged her tightly, drawing her closer to him.

Yeah, I often feel like the odd one out in my family. And yeah, I hate it, but manage to cope with it mostly. But sometimes I don't. But it's life, so I just deal with it.


	3. Chapter 2:Eye Contact

Chapter 2: Eye contact

When Dominica and Clide finally broke apart, awkward, we scanned the cafeteria, searching for an empty table. My eyes surveyed the whole cafeteria – busy as it was – and fixed its gaze on one.

"There's a table there," I whispered. I felt Dominica stiffen, and searched for the reason why.

_It's too near Edward, _she was thinking, _I think we should opt for someplace else._

_Why? _I demanded, and felt Dominica shrug. _Anyway, we have no choice. That's the only empty table._

Dominica squared her shoulders slightly and we strutted to the table, as casual as we could manage. I risked a glance at Edward's table, and was astonished to find that there were a lot of other people there. The distinct common feature between them – and this stunned me – was that they were all perfectly gorgeous; they were pale as a blanket of newly fallen snow, and as define as an airbrushed model- perfectly symmetrical were the calm features on their face.

Dominica, Clide and I took our seats, and I noticed as the noise that had been coming from Edward's table subsided instantly. I glimpsed them, and noticed that they were staring at us, silent and curious. It made me feel rather shifty.

I turned to face Dominica and Clide, and attempted to join into whatever conversation they were having, but the sudden murmurs that rippled through the air, crystal clear, from Edward's table caught my mind instead. I tuned into their conversation, my eyes attentive, eavesdropping on whatever conversation hat peculiar family was having. I was surprised to find out that the boys were taking turns to describe my 'heavenly' features, and I almost laughed when I heard them. If they were one of us (meaning Dominica, Clide and myself), their conversation was definitely not giving them away. They – like the other population of students, I noticed – were talking about the exact same thing. Of course, they seemed to be _discussing _it (perhaps, I thought, to compare our similar characteristics- yes, they were probably on the edge of figuring out if Dominica, Clide and I were you-know-what).

"Look at her," a loud voice boomed. My heart leaped a little, but sank again when I realized that the speaker wasn't perched on a seat at Edward's table, but was perched on another one. "My God, she's like a… a Greek goddess!"

I heard several snickers from the girls, but the voice hushed them.

"She's so pretty, seriously! I mean, look. She's got _perfect jet black hair- _it's so simple yet elegant. Her hair is like Spanish waves; it's like a magical waterfall cascading down her shoulders" – a sigh, then louder – "Her flawlessly cupid carved lips are as pink as a rose, glistening in the sun. Just one kiss, I beg of her, and it'd put me to an eternal sleep. So soft, so desirable…" – scowls from the females at the speaker's table – "And those define lips, framing perfect rows of pearly white teeth, stowing the aroma of the finest perfume, no doubt, in her breath" – I raised my eyebrow, slightly taken aback at the strange yet weirdly sweet compliment; I wriggled my nose- I didn't think my breath smelt like perfume, but who knows? – "Even her nose is perfect! It's faultlessly engraves, complementing her perfect features so great. Look at her marvelous jaw line, and bask in the fine way it's been engraved into her stunning sun-kissed complexion" – this creeped me out. A LOT – "How I long – yes, _long _– to stroke that baby soft cheek…" he trailed off and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the speaker turn to stare at me. The speaker was a boy- a _human _boy, obviously, with a cheeky glint in his eye. I turned to look at him and smiled. The boy froze, shock and embarrassment on his face, and he forced a feeble smile and hastened to look down at the plate of human-food in front of him. Clearly, he was embarrassed that I had caught him describing me. I took one final look at him – he was now fiddling with his food, rearranging it with his fork – and sighed, breaking my gaze and turning my back to them-

-To see Edward and the people at his table – his family, without a doubt – staring intently at me. I stared back at them, and then, upon realizing how awkward the scenario was, I tore my gaze from them by bowing my head quickly.

_Hey, _I thought, nudging Dominica (who, by the way, was chatting nonchalantly with Clide as though _nothing had happened). Look at Edward and his family for me. Are they staring?_

I felt Dominica look up, and her reply was instantaneous: _Yes._

Fortunately, she didn't question my curiosity, and I didn't press on.

Why, I wondered, were they _still _looking? Wasn't it awkward enough for them? I mean, _I _had thought it was uncomfortable and did them the favor as to look away. So why didn't they return the favor and _stop staring?_

Despite my outburst, my mind managed to stay calm.

_They're staring, _it told me as-a-matter-of-factly, _because of _that _dude._

"Mike," a female voice sighed. "We get the point. I mean, yeah, she's perfect, but there's something weird about that freak. Honestly!"

"Shut up, Jessica," Mike scowled. "You're just jealous."

"No, I'm not," Jessica snapped back, but I could tell she was lying. I turned around to look at the two bickering students, and noticed Jessica's cheeks flare crimson. "Seriously, there's something up with her and her twin and whoever that dude is. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something sinister – eerie – and freaky about her."

I looked away quickly, just as Jessica started to turn to examine me. My face burned slightly- was this, this… _human _going to discover the secret Dominica, Clide and I had hidden so well for the past few centuries?

_No, _I reassured myself, the fact that Dominica could hear my every thought via twin telepathy slipping my mind as I thought the rest: _I'll just shut her up if she does find out… And I intend to keep her quiet for good._

Dominica jerked suddenly, and I snapped out of my daydreams and stared at her. Oh God, had she registered what I had just said?

Fortunately, Dominica gave no hint that she had heard what I had just thought- much to my relief.

"I've got it!" I heard Jessica suddenly snap. Her tone was now eager and bursting with excitement, and I tuned my ears back into the conversation. "Have you seen her eyes?"

"Have I ever," Mike said dreamily.

"Gold- that's the colour they are. And not just _normal _gold; no- _her eyes are a deep shade of gold- and how rare is that? When have you ever come across a deep gold like _that?"

Her voice had broken into a whisper, but I could still hear it distinctly. Mike, too, seemed to be speaking in a hushed, low voice.

"It's not that rare, deep gold," he replied defensively. "I mean, the Cullen's eyes are the same shade of gold."

"Exactly," Jessica replied, sounding smug. I felt a shiver run down my back, and resisted the urge to turn around and bite her, before she did enough damage- before she dug deeper into the mystery behind me; before she unraveled all my secrets.

I attempted to distract myself by looking at Dominica and Clide. Dominica was chatting animatedly to Clide, and Clide was merely nodding, not glancing at me once. I tried to join into their conversation, but my thoughts prevented me from doing so. My mind was racing- I couldn't believe that Jessica had already been able to discover so much. Five hours – no, just over _four _hours – had I been in this high school, and already Jessica had unrooted many mysteries- questioned many things none has ever questioned before.

I swallowed. Was _this _how Maria had foreseen? Had she foreseen this moment? A stab of annoyance shot through my chest. Why hadn't Maria warned me (us)?

_She has the power to see key events in a person's life just by laying her eyes on them, and she decides _not _to tell me? _I thought dismissively.

"Thinking about Maria?" Dominica suddenly said. "Why?"

"Oh, no particular reason," I replied, lying smoothly. "I was just wondering how she was… at home…"

Yes, it was a pretty bad lie- and Dominica probably thought so too. I watched her – forcing a feeble, sheepish grin onto my face – narrow her eyes, shrug, and shake her head. And then, thankfully, she resumed her animated discussion with Clide as though there hadn't been an interruption.

I heaved a sigh of relief and resumed my previous thoughts (these thoughts were _sort of thoughts _as they were so deep in that no amount of twin telepathy would enable anyone to read it). Hopefully Jessica would just drop the matter, and forget about it. If not, I could always depend on Clide to use is abilities to _make them forget. _Yes; he could use mind control to do some alterations, or he could freeze time and do some mumbo jumbo… or something.

I decided it was best not to tune into any more of Jessica/Mike conversations, and my ears trailed along the room, bored, listening out for a decent conversation to eavesdrop on. Finally, it rested upon a discussion- one centered on _me. _My heart lurched- I was rather flattered at the fact that I seemed to have captured a lot of attention. Unfortunately, my happiness drooped when I realized _who _was talking about me: _the Cullens._

I glanced over Dominica's head at the gorgeous not-so-human-like family.

"Just because she has extremely icy skin and has golden eyes does _not _classify her as a vampire," said a beautiful blonde girl, impatiently. The girl whipped out a sparkled gold nail file and started filing her nails- something _Dominica _happens to do when it comes to acting human. Another similarity between Blondie and Dominica was, I noticed, the fact that Blondie was chewing something- bubble gum, perhaps? I stared at it; if Dominica and she were any alike, I was guessing that the bubble gum wasn't the normal strawberry flavor… It was probably something more… gruesome and ghastly to humans. "I mean, her skin has too much color and she fidgets… excessively! It's ridiculous to think her a vampire. It's _ludicrous!"_

"Rose, scared of a little competition?" mocked an equally as attractive boy. The girl – Rose, I gathered – rolled her eyes and tossed the golden locks she called hair behind her and muttered, "As if, Emmett."

I looked at the boy, taking a slight liking at him. He seemed like he'd make a good friend- someone with a sense of humor, for a change. The boy – Emmett – had dark chocolate brown hair, and he was well built- _very _well built. I scrutinized him again, eying his body. _Six pack, but menacing, _I decided inwardly. He reminded me of the first time I met Clide- intimidating and not to be messed with was the aura he gave out.

Clide.

I broke my gaze from the Cullens, and my ears tore away from the amid discussion they were having to face Dominica and Clide. I looked at them in disgust. I hadn't realized that they had started embracing each other with their lips. It seemed like there was major tongue-down-throat action going on.

"Hey, love birds," I snapped loudly. "Would you mind letting go of each other's faces for a second? Or would you prefer it if I found you a bed and a wardrobe so that you can -"

"-It's fine," Clide suddenly said, pulling away hastily from Dominica. Dominica reached out again, drawing nearer, ignoring me, but Clide shook her off.

"God," Dominica hissed, grumpy now. "You need to chill lax. Just because you've been single for half a century, does not give you the right to get jealous and attempt to sabotage other _happy and lasting _relationships."

I stared at her, stony faced, and hurt. Dominica seemed to realize the impact her words had on me, and her eyes widened. Being sensitive is one of my weaknesses, see. But if anyone starts talking about _anything to do with my being single for half a century-_

The world seemed to slow down, and everyone else froze. Only I was moving, and I felt confused as ever. My head throbbed and I clutched it, shaking furiously. The feeling grew stronger, and flashbacks whizzed its way through my mind. _The sound of his voice- _I started quivering, shaking. An elusive feeling welled up in my chest, like an empty hole, sucking in all my senses and leaving just one emotion that I could not describe. Words don't come easy when you're in pain. The feeling grew stronger and the sound of his voice grew louder- booming and echoing, rippling and breaking the silence in my head.

I started gasping and clutched blindly for something. My head was spinning, spiraling, and my heart was thumping and my mind was in peril. I had never been in such a strong, painful dilemma. My heart lurched suddenly, unpleasantly; it felt as though the feeling was spreading through me like a disease of the heart, attacking every part of me that showed a single flicker of weakness.

My hand groped around and finally held onto the edge of something. My eyes flew open- they had been shut all along, and I had not known. Breathing heavily, I composed myself again and looked up, snarling, at Dominica. Dominica was staring at me – as was Clide and half the students in the cafeteria – and she looked like she was going to kill herself because of what she said and the reaction I had towards those cold words.

"Kellie, I am _so _sorry," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I-It slipped out… I didn't mean it…"

I glared at her and shook my head furiously. Whatever. I was not ready to talk to her- not after what she had just done.

I decided not to speak to her for the rest of lunch, and distracted myself by eying the Cullens. Meanwhile, Dominica was spending her time on her iPod, whilst Clide – awkwardly enough – spent _his _time glancing at Dominica, then at me, questioning, yearning for an answer I could not give. Finally, Clide decided to take a 'nap' and shut his eyes, and rubbed his temples, muttering some words I could not quite catch.

The Cullens, it turned out, hadn't flinched upon my reaction and acted as though nothing peculiar had happened. They were still discussing portably about my supernatural statues.

"Did you _see _her in the gym?" an unfamiliar voice chirped, sounding half-amused, half-admiring. "She was _clearly _trying to miss the tennis balls. Of course, when she _did _hit a ball, not even Emmett could send it back. Tell them, Emmett."

Emmett's voice thundered once more, but now it sounded half-annoyed and half-impressed.

"True," Emmett grunted. "She hits at, like, a hundred miles per hour. It was annoying, really. It was completely unfair because she got to use the maximum force, whereas _I _am not even allowed to try in PE- because you lot fear that I'm going to give something away to those humans. For the record, if I were allowed to _try, _it would've been an easy shot."

Emmett, I noticed, left out the bit when I actually got him running for some of the balls. Probably, I concluded, because he wanted to keep his dignity; being beaten by a girl… Honestly.

Edward, who had remained silent for most of the conversation, chuckled suddenly. Had he read Emmett's mind, perhaps, and seen the scene Emmett did not mention to the others- the scene where _I _had sent him running?

"Well, you know celebs," the unfamiliar voice chirped again. I looked at the speaker- a tiny female that looked rather like a pixie. Her perfect features were smooth and calm and she seemed optimistic. "They have to stay _very _fit; so it doesn't necessarily mean she is, you know," she lowered her voice. "A vampire," she raised it again. "She does a lot of exercise, so perhaps that's how she gets her strength and stamina from. I mean, I've seen her dance and she's really good and quick at her feet… _What, Emmett? _I did my research!"

"Alice," Emmett snorted. "A year's worth of dancing continually could _not _get you _that fit."_

Alice didn't reply immediately, so I looked at her, curious. Her eyes were shut, strangely enough. I stared harder, wondering, and was taken aback when her eyes suddenly flew open."

"What is it, Alice?" Emmett urged.

"From what I see, they're going to be confronting us soon, so maybe we can get our questions off our back now," was Alice's simple reply.

"Maybe they've been listening?" Rose suddenly whispered, sounding like she didn't care one bit. The nail file had vanished, and she was no longer chewing.

_I _certainly was listening. Just as the Cullens turned to look at our table, I looked at Clide (who was now sitting down looking bored) and attempted to look as though I had been talking to him the whole time.

"Yeah, yeah," I said to Clide. "I know, it's so astonishing!"

"What?" Clide asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Keep talking," I muttered. "Or at least _move your lips."_

As Clide did that, I realized that something was vibrating in my pocket. It was my phone. I blinked.

"It's been vibrating for ages," Clide snapped. "Before you started talking to me, even!" When I stood frozen, Clide rolled his eyes and hissed, "Answer your bloody phone _now!"_

I could see the fake frustration on Clide's face, and I knew what was going to happen next.

"Don't -" I began, but was cut off immediately.


End file.
